In a manufacturing step, a processing step, or the like, of an electric wire, a wire accumulator is adopted as an apparatus for constantly and continuously supplying a wire material such as an electric wire or an electric wire core.
For example, an electric wire is manufactured through the steps in a wire material supply part that supplies a wire material wound on a bobbin or the like, then a manufacturing process part that applies a process such as a resin coating to the wire material continuously supplied from the wire material supply part, and then a winding part that winds the wire material on a bobbin or the like. A wire material accumulator is provided, for example, between the wire material supply part and the manufacturing process part, or between the manufacturing process part and the winding part. The wire material accumulator accumulates the wire material in a position between the wire material supply part and the manufacturing process part, and thereby, at a time of replacing the bobbin of the wire material supply part, supplies the accumulated wire material to the manufacturing process part, so that the wire material can be constantly and continuously supplied. At a time of replacing the bobbin of the winding part, the wire material accumulator similarly enables the wire material to be continuously supplied from the manufacturing process part, by the accumulation of the wire material supplied from the manufacturing process part.
Examples of the above-mentioned accumulator include one disclosed in Patent Document 1.
An accumulator disclosed in the Patent Document 1 includes a movable ring and a fixed ring. The movable ring has a thrust force in a direction away from the fixed ring. A wire material is wrapped around the movable ring and the fixed ring so as to stretch therebetween. When a distance between axes of the fixed ring and the movable ring is increased, the wire material is accumulated, while when the distance between the axes of the fixed ring and the movable ring is reduced, the accumulated wire material is supplied.